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Jerusalem-Yerushalayim

Introduction

The eyes of the world today are on Jerusalem. More than any other city, Jerusalem has captured hearts and imaginations around the world and continues to reflect the turbulent emotions of our troubled times. The city of Jerusalem has a complex, multi-layered history stretching back thousands of years, and continues today to be the literal and symbolic focus of many, often conflicting, aspirations. Jerusalem – placed at the centre of the world on mediaeval maps – a crossroads between Asia, Europe, and Africa. Jerusalem – occupied by Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Crusaders, Ottomans, British etc. Jerusalem – the scene of central events in Jewish history and in the Christian gospel – and now home to Jewish, Christian, and Islamic holy sites. While today’s media story is of division and hopelessness, the Bible tells an extraordinary story with a much longer perspective – a story of incredible hope that begins in Genesis with the wanderings of Abraham, and extends from these Semitic roots to a vision of lasting peace for all people, starting in Jerusalem.

In 2006 the composer Antony Pitts was inspired to begin sketching an oratorio that would tell, simply but powerfully, the Biblical story of Jerusalem – to audiences familiar with both great classical oratorios and popular musicals, and regardless of denomination or religious background, cultural perspective or political viewpoint. The result is an oratorio-musical with a libretto based on texts from the Tanakh (the “Old” Testament) laid out in a narrative order, and with the ancient Hebrew names for familiar Biblical characters and places (e.g. Avraham) – thus the double-barrelled title Jerusalem-Yerushalayim. The Biblical story of the city is told through twelve windows or snapshots in which Jerusalem is either the subject or the background; mirroring the four quarters of Jerusalem’s ‘Old City’, these are divided into four sections of three movements:

(A) the city in patriarchal times; (B) the city as the capital of Israel and then of Judah up to its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar in 586BC; (C) the city rebuilt under occupation until its destruction by the Romans in 70AD; (D) the city as prefigured by prophets and unfolded in history; and a coda looking forward to Isaiah’s vision of the wolf living together with the lamb.

The libretto was compiled by the composer and is drawn as directly as possible, given the limitations of English translation and the musical setting itself, from Biblical texts – texts which are both historical and prophetic, full of archetypes and resonances, and are at the same time about real people with their dreams, tragedies, and hopes. The music is new, but has strong historical echoes including familiar Western musical references such as Tallis’s Lamentations, Purcell’s My Beloved spake, Handel’s Zadok the Priest, and Parry’s I was glad – as well as various resonances from far outside the classical canon. In terms of practicality and approachability, and even structure, Jerusalem-Yerushalayim is modelled on Handel’s Messiah, and designed for widespread use: by professional vocal ensembles or amateur choirs, or a mix of both – with SATB soloists and flexible accompaniment.

Unusually, the first part of the oratorio to be completed was the conclusion – the choral coda entitled The peace of Jerusalem. It was premiered by the Choir of London, conductor Jeremy Summerly, in Israel in April 2007, and has since had performances in the UK by Tonus Peregrinus at the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music, and by the Elysian Singers under the direction of the composer in the City of London. Tonus Peregrinus recorded the coda for Hyperion on an album called Alpha and Omega, and in June 2008 gave the world premiere of the complete oratorio at Opera Fringe in Down Cathedral, Downpatrick, Northern Ireland – to a standing ovation. The revised and expanded version of the oratorio was recorded in October 2011, followed by the U.S. premiere in May 2012 which was given by Choral Arts Cleveland under conductor Martin Kessler.

Recordings

This is the first recording of dynamic English composer Antony Pitts' largest work to date, and the first release in a new partnership between Hyperion and the label 1equalmusic. The expert vocal and instrumental ensemble Tonus Peregrinus is joine ...» More

There are few better examples of a composer’s style developing concurrently with the emergence of a vocal group than in the a cappella vocal music of Antony Pitts. The Tonus Peregrinus octet exists to perform ancient and modern works interspersed wit ...» More

The oratorio begins with a sung prelude tracing Abra(ha)m’s genealogy all the way from Adam, thus linking the destiny of Jerusalem with the whole human race. The first actual mention of the city comes later in Genesis with the half of the name that still carries the meaning “peace” (shalom in Hebrew, salaam in Arabic) and with the mysterious and symbolic figure of Malki-Tzedek as its priest-king.

…the four-note motif of the patriarchs’ names morphs into the ‘wandering’ motif and then the ‘promise’ theme – both of which are associated with Abram …

Leave your country and your people, and your father’s house to a land I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, I will bless you … I will bless them that bless you, I will curse them that curse you, in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

Lift your eyes and look around you north, south, east, west, all this land I will give to you and your seed. I will make your seed as the dust, so if a man can number the dust, then your seed can also be numbered, numbered. Walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.

Movement 01c 'The King of Salem': Blessed be Avram (chorus/Melchizedek)

Fear not, Avram: I am your shield and your very great reward.
ADONAI Elohim, what will you give me? See you have given me no child and so another shall be my heir.
This man shall not be your heir, but rather one from your own body shall be your heir. Look now towards heaven and count the stars if you can number them, so shall be your seed. I am ADONAI who brought you out of Ur-Kasdim to give you this land.

I am El-Shaddai. Walk before Me and be perfect … Your name no longer shall be Avram, but your name shall be Avraham; I have made you father of many nations, kings shall come from you, and to your seed I give this land.

How can a man have a child when he is an hundred? Shall Sarah bear a child when she is ninety years old? Sarah shall bear you a son: you shall call him Yitz’chak!

Abram’s name is changed to Abraham – from “exalted father” to “father of many (nations)”, and he is promised a son in his old age, Isaac – whose name means “laughter”. But Abraham is asked to sacrifice him.

…the laughter in the music: an upside-down version of the first three notes of the ‘sacrifice’ theme …

ADONAI Yir’eh
I by Myself have sworn, says ADONAI, for you have not withheld your only son,
as you have done this I will bless you now, and multiply you as the stars of heaven, and in your seed shall all nations be blessed, for you have listened and obeyed My voice.

O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His mercy lasts for ever;

You shall not oppress a stranger: you know how it feels to be a
stranger.

O give thanks to the God of gods, for His mercy lasts for ever;

Six years you shall sow and gather in; But the seventh year the land
must rest …

O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His mercy lasts for ever.

Blessed in the city, blessed in the field, blessed when you come in, blessed when you go out.

To Him who alone has done great wonders, for His mercy lasts for ever; To Him who by wisdom made the heavens, for His mercy lasts for ever; To Him who spread out the earth on waters, for His mercy lasts for ever; To Him who made great lights, for His mercy lasts for ever; The sun to rule the day, for His
mercy lasts for ever; The moon and stars to rule the night, for His mercy
lasts for ever;

If you will not listen: Cursed in the city, cursed in the field, cursed when you come in, cursed when you go out. ADONAI will bring you and your king to a nation which you nor your fathers have known, And you shall become a byword to the nations … And you shall be few once again … Just as He rejoiced, so will He destroy … ADONAI will scatter you among the nations … And there you shall find no rest …

To Him who struck down Egypt’s firstborn, for His mercy lasts for ever; and brought Isra’el out from among them, for His mercy lasts for
ever; With mighty hand and outstretched arm, for His mercy lasts
for ever; To Him who split apart the Red Sea, for His mercy lasts for ever;
And made Isra’el pass through the middle, for His mercy lasts for ever;
But drowned the Pharaoh with his army, for His mercy lasts for ever;

When these things have come on you, the blessing and the curse, and
you return: ADONAI will bring you out of all nations …

To Him who led His people through the desert, His mercy lasts for ever; To Him who struck down great kings, His mercy lasts for ever; Yes, He who killed powerful for kings, His mercy lasts for ever; Sichon, the Amorite king, His mercy lasts for ever; And ‘Og the king of Bashan, His mercy lasts for ever; And gave their land a portion, His mercy lasts for ever; To Isra’el His servant, His mercy lasts for ever;

See, on one hand, life and good, on the other, death and evil … blessing, cursing, therefore choose life! that you may love the LORD … that you may live in the land …

Who remembers our misery, for His mercy lasts for ever; Rescues us
from our enemies, for His mercy lasts for ever; Who gives food to all
things that breathe, for His mercy lasts for ever;

As an eagle opens out her wings … As an eagle carries her young … As an eagle carries on her wings …

O give thanks to the God of heaven, for His mercy lasts for ever.

The family of Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, migrated to Egypt during a famine; but over time the children of Israel (as Jacob was also known) became enslaved. Miraculously delivered after several hundred years, with Moses leading them on the way to the “promised land”, they have celebrated the night of the Passover ever since.

…the ‘thanksgiving’ chant used for Psalm 136 evolves through movements 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, the end of 11, 12…

Give thanks to ADONAI, call on His Name … His word to a thousand
generations!

Having captured the stronghold of Zion from the Jebusites some time previously, King David dances wildly as the Ark of the Covenant is brought into the city. Later he orders a (forbidden) census; the punishment is a plague which is only halted on the threshing-floor of Araunah (Ornan) the Jebusite – where David sets up an altar.

…the first complete appearance of the ‘Jerusalem’ theme, and echoes of a well-known Handel anthem …

I will not go home, nor go to my bed – until I find a place for ADONAI; I will not sleep, nor will I close my eyes – until I find a house for the Mighty God of Ya‘akov.

Give thanks to ADONAI , for He is good, His mercy endures for ever, Amen!

See, now I live in a palace of cedar, but the Ark of God is kept in a tent!
Will you build an house for Me? I took you from tending sheep. I will establish your son, I will establish his kingdom, he will build Me an house, I will establish his throne for ever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son.
Who am I, ADONAI? and what is my family? yet this is a small thing to You, You speak of a great while to come … What more can I say to You, LORD? for You know Your servant David!

Great is ADONAI and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, holy mountain, Fair in elevation, joy of the whole earth! Northwards, Mount Tziyon, city of the great King!

They that trust in Him shall be as Mount Tziyon, which cannot be shaken, but will always stay! As the mountains are about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about His people always!

Movement 04c 'A house for the Lord': I have greatly sinned (David/chorus)

I have greatly sinned, (the people numbering,) please put away my sin, I did a foolish thing.
Three years’ famine? Three months’ war? Or three days’ plague from the LORD?
Let me fall into the hand of the LORD, but not the hand of man.
Enough! stay your hand!
Was it not I who commanded the people to be numbered, but they, what have they done? I have sinned. Let me have this threshing-floor that I may build an altar for the LORD. I will buy it for the full price, I will not take what is yours, nor make burnt offering without cost. This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar for Israel!

Shout for joy to ADONAI, all the earth, Serve the LORD with gladness, come to Him, singing, Know that ADONAI is God, He made us, We are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter with thanksgiving, into His gates, Go into His courts with praise, and bless His Name: ADONAI is good, His mercy
endures, And His faithfulness to all generations!

Give thanks to ADONAI, call on His Name … His word to a thousand generations!

Give thanks to ADONAI, for He is good, His mercy endures for ever. Amen!

Movement 05a 'Called by My Name': I was glad (chorus/Solomon) –
Give thanks to ADONAI for He is good

I was glad when they said unto me: We will go into the house of the
LORD.

ADONAI said He would live in thick darkness, but I have built a
house for You.
I have chosen Yerushalayim that My Name shall be there.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem …

But will God live with men on earth? for the heavens cannot hold Him! how much less this house I have built! If the stranger come and pray in this house, then hear and do: that all people may know Your Name. Arise, O LORD …

Give thanks to ADONAI for He is good, for His mercy lasts for ever!

Although his father – as a man of war – is not allowed to build the Temple, King Solomon does so on the same threshing-floor and in the very area where Abraham had been ready to sacrifice his son Isaac nearly a thousand years earlier.

…as well as strong echoes of Parry, Weelkes, and Zadok the Priest, the ‘king’ motif grows into the first hints of the ‘Messiah’ theme …

If My people, called by My Name will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from wickedness, Then will I hear from heaven, and forgive, and heal their land. I have chosen this house, that My Name may be there for ever. But if you turn away … then this house I will cast aside.

I remember you, the kindness of your youth, you followed Me into the wilderness …

If you make your oppression cease – shedding innocent blood, and following other gods – I will make you live in this place, in the land I gave to your fathers for ever, Is this house which bears My Name become for you a den of thieves?

Shlomo
Rechav‘am
Aviyah

(Natan)
(Mattatah)
(Manah)
(Mal’ah)

Jerusalem, return to Me! If you will not listen to Me, walk in the Torah which I have set before you, I will make this house like Shiloh, I will make this city a curse among the nations,
You shall die for you have said this city shall be desolate! –
Then you will bring innocent blood on you!

You have not listened, so I shall send for N’vukhadretzar the king of Bavel, and I will destroy you,
(no sound of laughter)
turn you to ruin,
(no voice of bridegroom)
and you shall serve him
(no noise of millstone)
seventy years.

Jerusalem, return to Me!

Movement 06c 'The King of Babylon & the Desolations of Jerusalem': When you were born (Ezekiel/chorus/Jeremiah)
Jerusalem, O Yerushalayim!

Jerusalem, O Yerushalayim! When you were born, you were not washed or dressed, no one pitied you, you were thrown into the field. When I passed, I saw you lying in your blood, “Live” I said to you, you shall grow and grow and grow,

Asa
Y’hoshafat
Yoram
‘Uziyahu
Yotam
Achaz
Hizkiyahu

(Elyakim)
(Yonam)
(Yosef)
(Y’hudah)
(Shim‘on)
(Levi)
(Mattat)
(Yoram)

Jerusalem, return to Me! Now when I passed again it was the time of love, a covenant with you then I made, and you were Mine, I washed away the blood, anointed you, clothed and crowned you, and you were very beautiful! But you trusted in your beauty, played the harlot, woe to you! So I will bring your lovers against you.

This is the day:
(no sound of gladness)
the king of Babylon
(no voice of bride)
is come against
(no light of candle)
Yerushalayim.

Woe!

Movement 06d 'The King of Babylon & the Desolations of Jerusalem': How alone! (Jeremiah/chorus)

If I forget you, O Jerusalem … my tongue may it cleave to the roof of my mouth.

My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, “Where is your God?”

Daniel is one of those taken captive to Babylon; towards the end of his life, as he is specifically praying for the city and his people, the angel Gabriel announces a timetable of the city’s restoration, the coming of the anointed One – the Messiah, and the subsequent further destruction of the city.

…the first appearance of two longer melodies associated with exile and with intercession – the ‘king’ motif in sackcloth and ashes – and then the seventy times seven of the title counted out literally in a harmonic dance …

O Lord, great God, keeping covenant and showing mercy to them that love Him, to them that keep His Word; we have sinned, and rebelled, neither have we listened to Your prophets, who spoke to us our kings, our fathers, all the people: O Lord, hear, O Lord, forgive, O Lord, listen and act!

O Lord, ADONAI, righteousness belongs to You, but shame belongs to all of us; we have sinned against You, men of Y’hudah, Yerushalayim, all Isra’el , wherever scattered by You, O Lord, hear, O Lord, forgive, O Lord, listen and act!

As in the Torah of Moshe, all this evil is come on us, O Lord, we have done wrong, let Your anger turn from Jerusalem. O Lord, hear, O Lord, forgive, O Lord, listen and act!

O God, hear me, cause Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary; see our desolations, we plead with You for Your great mercy, delay not, for Your city and Your people bear Your Name.

Daniel,
Seventy ‘sevens’ for your people and your city to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, and atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting good, seal vision and prophecy, to anoint the Most Holy. Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to rebuild Yerushalayim unto Mashiach the Prince shall be seven ‘sevens’, and sixty-two ‘sevens’: the street and the wall shall be built again, even in troubled times. After sixty-two ‘sevens’ shall Messiah be cut off (with nothing) and the city and sanctuary shall be destroyed by people of a prince to come, and its end shall be with a flood, desolation to the end of war. And he shall strengthen the covenant for many, one ‘seven’, and in the middle of the ‘seven’ he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering; abomination shall cause desolation …

Koresh king of Persia: The LORD God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has charged me to build Him an house at Jerusalem. Who is there among you of all His people? let him go up to Jerusalem and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, in Jerusalem.

Run to this young man, say that Jerusalem will be inhabited without walls, for the multitude of men and animals, I will be a wall of fire, and I will be the glory within her!

Be strong, build the house!

My house shall be built! I will return to Yerushalayim with mercies.

I, Daryavesh, have made a decree.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a contrite heart, God, You will not despise. In Your good pleasure make Tziyon prosper, rebuild the walls of Yerushalayim!

Artach’shashta, king of kings, to ‘Ezra the cohen, I make a decree that all they that are minded to go to Jerusalem: they shall go with you; silver and gold they shall bring to make offering.

Why do you look sad? You are not sick; this is sorrow of heart.
Why should I not look sad? when the city of my fathers lies waste, and the gates are burnt up with fire?
What is your desire?
O send me to the city of my fathers, that I may build it!

You see our distress: how Jerusalem lies waste, and the gates burnt up with fire; come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem! Let us rise and build!

Cyrus, king of Persia, has been personally named by earlier prophets as the one who will issue a decree to rebuild the Temple – the first of several decrees for the restoration of the city (one of which seems to be the starting-point for Gabriel’s seventy “weeks” of years).

…midway through this movement the transfiguration from longing and darkness to unalloyed thanksgiving and light …

Hoshanna means “save” and is both a cry for help and an acclamation. Many of the Messianic prophecies of salvation in the Old Testament refer to Jerusalem, and in due course the city witnesses their fulfilment.

…within the outer frame of two hymn quotations many different themes and motifs come together, culminating in a combination of ‘king’ and ‘sacrifice’ first heard at the end of the first movement …

Break into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted His people and redeemed Yerushalayim, All the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God! Behold My servant, He shall be exalted. So disfigured was He to see.

Listen to Me, you that seek the LORD, look to Avraham your father, and Sarah, For the the LORD will comfort Tziyon and make her wilderness like Eden, joy and gladness, and the voice of of melody.

Awake, awake, put on your strength, put on your beauty, O Yerushalayim, Shake yourself from the dust, arise, sit down, set yourself free, O daughter of Tziyon, for you have sold yourselves for nothing, you shall be redeemed without money!

Hoshanna! Hoshanna!

He will cover, cover you with His feathers, under His wings …

Rejoice, o Daughter of Zion and shout O Daughter of Jerusalem! Behold your King coming to you lowly, riding on an ass, and on a colt, an ass’s foal, He comes to you, just, and with salvation.

Open to me the gates of salvation. See the stone which the builders refused is become the chief cornerstone. Jerusalem! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the LORD. Baruch haba b’shem ADONAI. Hoshanna! Hoshanna!

He was led as a lamb to the slaughter but He opened not His mouth. He was cut off from the land of the living.

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, in You I put my trust, in the shadow of Your wings,

He will deliver you from snare and from calamity, He will cover you with feathers, refuge under His wings

O give thanks to the LORD for He is good, for His mercy lasts for ever

My righteous servant shall justify many, He has poured out His soul unto death …

O give thanks to the LORD for He is good, for His mercy lasts for ever.

O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me unto Your holy hill and to Your tabernacle. Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy, yes, upon the harp will I praise You, O God my God!

If I do not remember you, O Yerushalayim, O let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.

Can a woman’s tender care cease towards the child she bare? Yes, she may forget, it’s true, yet will I remember you.

Ezekiel’s vision of life breathed into a valley of dry bones speaks both of resurrection and of restoration.

… a transformed version of the ‘sacrifice’ theme, and then the ‘promise’ theme is re-invigorated into a furious dance … and a Halleluyah chorus – a quodlibet over three simple chords from the second movement …

Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we are cut off!
Prophesy to these bones: Hear the Word of the LORD! I will make breath enter you, you shall live so that you know I am ADONAI, I will put sinews and flesh and skin on you so that you know I am ADONAI.

Prophesy to the wind: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these dead, that they live!

I will open up your graves and bring you to the land of Is’rael. You shall know that I am ADONAI.

When Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by what they did … so I scattered them among the nations: so was profaned My holy Name! I do this for My holy Name’s sake, so the nations shall know that I am the LORD. I will gather you from all nations. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be cleansed … a new heart I will give you … a heart of flesh, and I will put My spirit in you … and you shall live in the land I gave your fathers …

There shall yet old men and old women live in the streets of Yerushalayim; and the city shall be full of boys and girls playing …

O how good it is to sing praises to our God; It is sweet and right to praise Him: Halleluyah! ADONAI is building up Yerushalayim; He is gathering in the outcasts of Is’rael. Halleluyah! He is healing the broken heart; He is binding up their wounds, oh, Halleluyah! ADONAI is counting up, one by one, the stars; He is calling them all by name: Halleluyah!

O give thanks to ADONAI, the LORD, for He is good, for His mercy lasts for ever and ever. Halleluyah!

Movement 12a 'A house of prayer for all people': Pray for the peace of Jerusalem (chorus/Elijah)

LORD, God of Avraham, Yitzchak, and [Y’]israel , let it be known this day: that You are God in Israel, and I am Your servant and have done all this at Your Word. Hear me, O LORD, hear me that this people may know: You are the LORD God and have turned back their hearts to You!

Famous words about the nations living united in peace and harmony are found alongside visions of a time when Jerusalem becomes a stumbling-block for the world: only God can give her and all of us the peace that passes all understanding.

… a combination of melodies by Purcell, Handel, and Dunstaple, followed by a recapitulation of the principal motifs and themes in contrasted sections, capped by an extended coda in which lies hidden a golden melody …

You will arise, and have mercy on Zion; for the time to favour her; yes, the time is come.

When ADONAI builds up Tziyon, then He will appear in His glory: oh, Halleluyah!

He sends the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills: there’s water for the animals, and a place for the birds to sing. He makes the grass to grow for cattle, and crops for you and me: here’s wine for gladness, oil for healing, and bread to make us live!

How many are Your works, O Lord, in wisdom You made them all. Your riches are throughout the earth and in the deep blue sea. The glory of the Lord endures, He delights in all His works. And I will sing unto the Lord, and praise Him while I live!

Shout for joy and sing to the Lord!

Movement 12f 'A house of prayer for all people': You who thirst (soloists/chorus) –

Though the mountains be removed …
Yet My covenant of peace shall not leave you …
Sing, O barren … great shall be your children’s peace.
Jerusalem, the voice of weeping shall no more be heard in her, the voice of crying no more.
Comfort, comfort … Jerusalem, proclaim to her that her warfare is over …

The LORD upon this mountain will make a feast for all [peoples] …
ADONAI- Tzva’ot [the LORD of hosts]
I will lay foundations and your walls with precious stones …

The shroud upon all nations here will the LORD destroy …
ADONAI ELOHIM [the Lord GOD]
I will walk among you, and My people you shall be.

He, swallowing death in victory, will wipe away all tears [from all faces] …
’immanu-El
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw …
They shall not hurt or destroy on all My holy mountain …

Be glad in His salvation, our God, we will rejoice!
See, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us …
We have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.
ADONAI
I create new heavens, and a new earth …
And in Jerusalem I will rejoice! Yerushalayim!

The Peace of Jerusalem is the choral coda from a new oratorio called Jerusalem-Yerushalayim, and is based on chorale segments which announce passages from Isaiah. The chorale is offset by gently flowing eight-voice polyphony that is arrested at four points by short Hebrew passages which abruptly take the music into a brash key which is itself in marked contrast to the tonality of the movement’s narrative. As the piece progresses, so the textures expand and the rhythm becomes elasticated by the use of slow-formed triplets. The climax at the end dons an almost orchestral garb as the music inexorably and triumphantly takes the voices into their upper reaches.

Though the mountains be removed …
Yet My covenant of peace shall not leave you …
Sing, O barren … great shall be your children’s peace.

Jerusalem, the voice of weeping shall no more be heard in her, the voice of crying no more.

Comfort, comfort … Jerusalem, proclaim to her that her warfare is over...

The LORD upon this mountain will make a feast for all peoples … ADONAI- Tzva’ot (the LORD of hosts)

I will lay foundations and your walls with precious stones …

The shroud upon all nations here will the LORD destroy …

ADONAI ELOHIM (the Lord GOD) I will walk among you, and My people you shall be.

He, swallowing death in victory, will wipe away all tears from all faces …

‘immanu-El

The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw …
They shall not hurt nor destroy on all My holy mountain...

Be glad in His salvation, our God, we will rejoice! See, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us … we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.
ADONAI

I create new heavens, and a new earth …

And in Jerusalem I will rejoice!
Yerushalayim!

The coda to Jerusalem-Yerushalayim is based on chorale segments which announce passages from Isaiah. The chorale is offset by gently flowing eight-voice polyphony that is arrested at four points by short Hebrew passages which abruptly take the music into a brash key which is itself in marked contrast to the tonality of the movement’s narrative. As the piece progresses, so the textures expand and the rhythm becomes elasticated by the use of slow-formed triplets. The climax at the end dons an almost orchestral garb as the music inexorably and triumphantly takes the voices into their upper reaches.